Chapter 15: Professional Development

1

• Chapter 15 Professional Development
• Objectives
• 1. Identify professional activities in and
  outside school setting
• 2. Discuss writing for professional journals
• 3. Discuss importance of interaction with other
  science teachers
• 4. Discuss importance of research, hobbies,
  professional leave
• 5. Suggest ways to evaluate teacher performance

2

• Professional Development Activities
• Importance of Professional Development
• Becoming an effective teacher is a continuous
  process
• Science content changes rapidly and has expanding
  social relevance
• Diversity of students is increasing rapidly
• Research, publication, interaction with
  colleagues are reaffirming
• State and national standards change
• Inservice and Workshops
• School district often require participation, and
  arrange for presenters - District In-service or
  PD days
• Implementation of new curriculum
• STS initiatives, Science Literacy, etc
• Compliance with State Standards
• Assessment and Testing
• Summer, Saturday, after school, work day
  scheduling
• Points often assigned for time and effort
  involved
• Points may be used for recertification

3

• Graduate Work
• College coursework often required for pay raise,
  promotion, tenure
• Recertification may require a certain number of
  graduate hours in combination or in place of
  inservice points
• School system typically pay for tuition (check on
  the opportunities)
• May be used toward a graduate degrees
• Types of courses
• Increase science content knowledge Modern
  Physics
• Increase pedagogical knowledge Inquiry Learning
• Graduate degrees
• Masters degree improves pay, promotion
• Consider Masters in administration, counseling,
  special ed, etc
• Usually takes several years of one or two courses
  a semester
• Professional Organizations
• National Organizations
• National Science Teachers Association
• Publishes journals
• Instrumental in development of National Science
  Education Standards

4

• Discipline Specific
• National Association of Biology Teachers - NABT
• American Chemical Society - ACS
• American Association of Physics Teachers - AAPT
• National Association of Geology Teachers - NAGT
• Others NAAEE
• Research in Science Education
• National Association for Research in Science
  Teaching - NARST
• Association for the Education of Teachers of
  Science - AETS
• Publish journals on newest research into teaching
  science
• Statewide Organization
• 1. General science teaching or discipline
  specific
• Connecticut Academy for Education in Math,
  Science, Technology
• Connecticut Science Teachers Association
• Local meetings
• Publish science education research and ideas - CT
  JSE
• Update teachers on standards and regulation
  changes

5

• Other activities for Professional Growth
• Writing for Publication
• Prepare papers or presentations for local,
  regional, national meetings
• Prepare manuscript for publication in peer
  reviewed journal
• a. Wider dissemination of an idea or of research
  findings
• Improves communication skills
• Involvement is scholarly development of the
  profession
• What to write on
• Improved method for doing a lab
• Research on student learning following a specific
  instruction activity
• Basic science research
• Action Research!
• Communicating with other science teachers
• Experienced teachers are valuable sources of
  information
• They know what works and what doesnt work (for
  them, anyway)
• Point out relationships in curriculum that you
  dont see
• Attend professional meetings to interact with
  other science teachers

6

• C. Travel - tax write offs! (check with your
  accountant)
• Opportunity to collect samples, photographs,
  experiences
• Use these in the classroom to increase
  motivation, enthusiasm
• Make sure laws are observed when collecting
  samples
• Museums provide ideas for units, activities
• Industries provide applications to enhance
  authenticity of lessons
• Summer Employment
• Science-related employment enriches your
  experiences
• Some industries intentionally hire science
  teachers in summer
• Develop technical skills
• Universities often have summer programs for
  teachers
• Work for a professor as a research assistant -
  ISIS
• Research - ISIS
• Science
• May have skills, education, interest to establish
  your own projects
• Collaborate with university professors
• Involve students in data collection, analysis,
  and reporting - GLOBE

7

• Education
• Collaborate with university researcher (you are
  the subject)
• Action Research improving classroom practices
• Decide what to study
• Choose what data to collect and how to collect it
• Analyze the data
• Implement the results
• Needs to be manageable within daily teaching
  tasks
• Conditions conducive to action research
• Collaboration with other teachers
• Communication between collaborators
• Support of time and resources
• Recognition of efforts by administration
• Improves science teaching and learning (NRC,
  1996)
• Leave of Absence
• Sabbatical or leave can be used to update content
  or teaching skills
• May be one semester or one year
• May have full, half, or no pay

8

• Keeping Up-to-Date through Reading
• Vast amount of content and pedagogical literature
  available
• Easy access prerequisite to taking advantage of
  it
• Establish a professional library
• Subscribe to professional journal
• Read popular science publications
• Scientific American
• National Geographic
• Discover
• Keep and update your college science texts
• May be expensive the school library may help
• Evaluating teacher performance
• Evaluation is essential for growth
• Set goals for yourself
• Try to implement learning from professional
  development
• Videotaping
• Borrow school video camera

9

• Questionnaires
• Student evaluations can point out strengths and
  weaknesses
• Should contain positively stated statements and a
  scale of answers
• Should be anonymous and should not effect grade
• Written comments from students are often most
  helpful
• Sample questionnaire p. 306 Chiappetta text
• Maintaining a Resume - VITA (long form)
• Keep track of professional activities for a
  resume
• College credit or degrees
• Job position, responsibilities, dates of
  employment, supervisors
• Inservice and workshops
• Professional meetings, presentations, and
  publications
• Committee membership, awards,
• Without documented proof, the activity didnt
  happen
• Important for accreditation of schools